The Idol Persona
by Akina Akhai
Summary: Umi has always admired the dancing idol, but when she meets her in person, something other than admiration sparks. (side couple of NicoMaki)


The last words of the song echoed throughout the music center in Tokyo; I could easily pick out the voice of Eli Ayase from the seven performers. The blond-haired was my idol; she was beautiful, tall, and talented. It was a wonderful feeling watching her dance so gracefully and sings as though she was pouring her feelings out onto the stage and flow over in to the audience that held me so.

"Come on, Umi!" a small black-haired girl pulled me through the rather large crowd. "We need to get to the front!"

"W-we don't really have to be in front, other people want to see too—" my words had not reached the older girl for she kept barging through the many excited fans. I apologized to the people the smaller girl splitting like the story of Moses. Thanks to the black-haired girl, we were up in front for the adieu.

"Oh~ There's Maki~" the shorter girl took out her phone and started to take pictures of the redheaded idol as she beckoned, "Maki~ over here!"

The stars were handing out special back stage season passes, something that was a dream for me since we saved up money since last year to be at this one. The girl next to me kept calling out Maki's name, hoping to catch her attention; but soon she just reduced herself to take pictures.

"Nico, I don't believe she hears you," I tried to convince the shorter girl.

"I don't care," taking more photos of the idol; she started up on saying her name once again, a stubborn mule as usual.

"Eli…" I unconsciously said as she was walking by, she happened to hear my quiet voice from the white water rapids of a crowd, and gave me a big smile. Placing a back stage pass around my neck, she left her right, cold hand there; the contact made my skin crawl and shiver. Her rosy lips parted, and her eyelids slowly revealed blue eyes that reflected light as if they were diamonds. Everything faded in that very moment, only her lay in sight, her breath that rang in my ears, her lovely smell captivating. My heart pumped with vigor, I leaned forward, resting my hands on the rail that separated her and I, and stared into her eyes, it became clear to me that her heart kept the same tempo.

"See you at our next performance." She smiled again, sliding her hand that was at the back of my neck around to the front were it followed my chin line off as she walked off; leaving me nearly over the rail for her touch. I watched as the blond-haired girl walked away with a different tune, just what tune had it been. The roar of the crowd arose from the nothingness, and woke me from the spell of the fleeting castor. My admiration morphed into something different.

I fell in love.

"Well…" hanging slightly over the rail and blushing, "this is embarrassing."

"Maki~" Nico somehow managed to capture the redheaded idol's attention, considering that she overpowered most of the crowd. She came over with a finely knitted smile, and leaned over to place a backstage pass around the shorter girl's neck and whispering something in her ear. Her breath on the girl's ear sent chills down her spine.

"You are quite the annoying fan, but I hope to see you next time," barely hearing what the redhead said, she walked away leaving the little one in a small rage. I could have sworn that I saw the redhead lift her left hand over her mouth to giggle at her as she confidently walked away.

"The nerve of that idol…" she crossed her arms and held her head high, "Does she know anything of the word persona… but she's still my favourite."

"I think we should head back to our job." saying as I got up from the awkward position on the rail. "We don't want to be late."

"Aw," Nico allowed herself hauled out of the crowd by her kouhai, me. Soon we boarded a train that was not all that packed; I looked out the window as I usually did while we were in a train. We lived in the Kyoto prefecture in a bathhouse that we worked at. We had lived there for a long time, ever since we were children; it was our home. "Have you done your homework?"

"Yeah," I responded automatically. "Do you plan on going to college?"

"Nope, not many good colleges around our home, plus I wasn't exactly the greatest in school," she sighed, "I never was good at all that math and English."

"Oh, so you can be honest," I laughed.

"Hey, I don't lie, it's just not telling the whole truth…" she got quieter, "sometimes."

"Right…" I looked out the window to see another train come pass in a blur of colour. "I'm glad we went to see them."

"Same here~ Maki-chan~" she voiced as she kissed her back stage pass.

"Eli…" I felt relaxed just thinking about her, it was an odd, but not unwelcoming, feeling.

"Oh! That reminds me." she dug in her purse and pulled out her cell phone. "I got a nice picture of you two."

"What?" she showed me the screen of her red phone, and there I was looking mesmerized by Eli's hand on my chin while hanging over the rail, how one even gets the picture so perfect is a mystery. "That really is embarrassing."

"What? You two look like you're meant for each other," she snickered as she flipped through her little album of my idol and I. Heat rose in my face, and I looked away from the two of us. "Just look at the way she is looking at you... and you at her."

"Honestly," there in no way someone famous would fall for someone so ordinary and poor; especially if that someone was Eli Ayase, the best dancer I have ever laid eyes on. Nothing could bring us together, surely. She needs a person that would suit her, and would treat her perfectly.

"Hey, this pass says that they'll be in our home town in a week!" the black-haired girl cooed out.

"Well, at least we don't have to travel far." I smiled and somehow hoped that I would be able to see her close up again.

That night when we got back, I could not sleep, like most people in love, I struggled to get comfortable in the small futon on the tatami flooring. Thinking far too much about that blue-eyed, blond-haired girl, how her hair fit neatly into that beautifully placed ponytail, and the azure of her eyes sparkled when she looked into my eyes. It was almost as if I was in a dream, but reality dawned on me far too quickly. Sighing I turned over onto my right side, they do say it is easier to fall asleep on that side, but it was futile—I could not sleep. I kept catching myself thinking of her, how I would reenact our meeting, if only I did not do this or that. Everything would be fine if I did not embarrass myself, right. No, that is just something I have been telling myself, it is an illusion I have created to help me through the night.

The next morning certainly surprised me, and it was far more embarrassing than yesterday night. I woke up for my daily chores since it was the weekend, and as I passed the kitchen, I saw a blue-haired girl hanging over the railing on the TV screen—the whole world now saw how much of an idiot I was. Thinking about that made me never want to go to school again, nor anywhere for that matter. I sighed and walked through the wood-floored halls, getting to the main entrance where I began to sweep. Muffled whispers came from passerby, and I knew what they were talking about; it had to have been me on the main news channel. A deep red appeared on my face.

"Morning miss news idol," the voice was obvious; the shorty that accompanied me to the concert yesterday.

"Please don't call me that," sighing away, I swept some more dirt out the doors. "I've already became the topic for discussing around here."

"Don't feel so bad about it," she gave me a good smack on the back.

I rolled my eyes, "how would you like to introduce yourself to international television as a head-over-heels idiot?"

"I wouldn't mind any," she boasted, "as long as it was Maki-chan~"

"Right," the little girl was annoying me, so I went off to do something elsewhere. 'A week' suddenly repeated in my head, that was right, in just one week I would be able to see her again. I did not know if I could last until then, I wanted to see her now. I sighed some more, finishing my chores so I could return to my room where I grabbed out a sheet of music, a stand, and my old cherry-burst guitar, bringing them to the main entrance. I began to tune the five strings, and then soon after, I started to play what was on the sheet, refreshing my mind of the song so I could play without it. Notes streamed out in full measures, and after the second play through, I started to sing with it. I would occasionally play out here for customers. Time passed me by as the notes progressed further, eventually nothing was in my way, and I completely focused on the music. As the last cord reverberated in the guitar, I sighed, snapped from concentration in cause of claps.

"Why such a lonely sigh?" I blinded my eyes with my hand, trying to interpret dream from reality, was this girl really standing right there, or was it my imagination, was this really Eli Ayase?

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**Author's Notes: I probably will not update this quickly, I'm sorry. If I make mistakes, or anything, I'm sorry also. I hope I'm worthy of your commentary! Thank you for reading.**


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